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You’ve been teaching your students their multiplication facts. It’s been a couple weeks but they seem to be getting it by the end of math class on Monday, so you’re feeling pretty good. Your students come back to class on Tuesday and you throw out some easy warm-up problems: 4 x 2, 3 x 5.

And...crickets.

It’s as if you never taught the concept! In my classroom, I sometimes felt like I was teaching and reteaching the same math facts over and over again.

Today, we'll take a closer look at some examples of the kinds of math vocabulary that trip up our students, especially those with learning disabilities and English Language Learners.

We'll talk about WHAT kinds of math words are tricky and HOW to help students overcome the confusion so they can communicate mathematically. Keep reading to learn more and download a free math vocabulary toolkit.

﻿Too often, we overemphasize speed and underemphasize understanding and fluency in the math classroom. Learning math facts can be especially tricky for students with disabilities, who might have difficulty memorizing facts and trouble seeing relationships between related facts.

Remember those timed fluency drills your 3rd-grade teacher assigned? Turns out those drills aren't great at building true fact fluency!

Today, I want to share what it really means to acquire “fact fluency.” Keep reading to find out why speed isn’t important and why flexible thinking is at the core of fluency.

Students with learning disabilities often struggle to understand and use the appropriate vocabulary when expressing their ideas in all content areas, including mathematics. Using correct mathematical terms can seem like learning a new language! Students won't simply absorb newly taught math terms when presented throughout the lesson. Instead, the best approach is to introduce new vocabulary through explicit instruction, in the context of meaningful math examples. Students will construct meaning as the teacher repeatedly connects the term with the definition as they are engaging in mathematical investigations.

Keep reading to learn some tips for increasing your students' understanding and use of math vocabulary.

Math centers are powerful tools to differentiate learning but they can get real messy real fast! It can be hard to keep your math centers organized and running smoothly. And what happens when you have students with disabilities who might be more impulsive, have difficulty reading labels, and need refocusing during independent work? In this blog post, I share 6 steps to help you set up your math centers and keep them organized all year around so your students with disabilities can work independently and successfully.